1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-air conditioner, and more particularly, to a multi-air conditioner and an operation method thereof capable of simultaneously performing cooling and heating operation.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, an air conditioner is an apparatus for cooling or heating an indoor space such as a residential space, office, restaurant and the like. Recently, a multi-air conditioner has been developed so as to more effectively cool or heat an inner space partitioned into a plurality of rooms.
The multi-air conditioner is comprised of one outdoor unit, and a plurality of indoor units each being connected to the outdoor unit and being installed every room. The multi-air conditioner operates in one of heating mode and cooling mode, thereby heating or cooling the room air.
However, the conventional multi-air conditioner has a drawback in that even when some rooms among the partitioned rooms need to be heated while other rooms need to be cooled, since all the indoor units are operated in heating mode or cooling mode, the conventional multi-air conditioner does not meet the request of the aforementioned multi-operations.
For example, in buildings, there may occur a temperature difference according to a directional position and a daylight time. That is, the northern rooms of a building need to be heated while the southern rooms need to be cooled owing to the sunlight. However, the conventional air conditioners have a limitation in meeting such requirements. Further, in case a building has a computer center, the building always needs to be cooled even in summer days as well as in winter days, so as to solve heat load generated from the computer equipments. However, the conventional air conditioner does not yet meet such selective air-conditioning requirements.
In order to solve these disadvantages, the multi-air conditioner is required to condition each room air individually at the same time. That is, it is requested that some room airs be heated in the heating mode and at the same time, other room airs be cooled in the cooling mode. Accordingly, it is required to develop a multi-air conditioner capable of selectively and simultaneously performing cooling and heating and having an economical structure for installation.